The Butterfly Thieves

Chapter One

The smoke from the cigarettes always made my nose itchy, making my eyes water, and my skin crawl. Yet, I inhale my cigarettes as if it was my life support. I wanted to blame Mikey, as he was the one to offer me my first one, nearly shoving it in my mouth, yet saying no was something I could have done.

Sitting on the bench with my hoodie up, covering up my headphones, and blowing smoke out my nose, it usually caught a few side-eyes from the yoga pants wearing Starbucks moms. They always look at me like I was a freak. I know they judge my shitty tattoos and the at-home piercings that covered my ears and part of my face like a blanket. Though it is only fair, they get to judge me as I judge them.

"Mind if I sat down?" an older man asked. I took my headphones out of my ears, looking up to him. I just shrugged and let him sit down next to me. He looked like one of those smart people, glasses, and a tan trench coat like he had read a book or two in his life. Truth be told, I was a bit shocked that he would dare sit down next to someone like me. He took out a brown bag and started to spread seeds on the ground. I couldn't help but watch him, him smiling, showing all his perfect white teeth. I was jealous. I've been smoking only for a few months, and my teeth were already starting to be stained and yellow.

I knew smoking was going to kill me, but I wasn't sure if I had cared too much. Either or, it was making me lose weight, so that was the bright side to it. At least that's what Mikey had told me. He was right about most things.

I noticed that the man was talking, and I pulled my headphones out. "I'm sorry?" I asked.

He was laughing. "Oh, I'm sorry I didn't know you were listening to music. I was just commenting on how happy the birds look, getting feed."

"Are you supposed to feed them?"

"I'm not sure. I think it's okay. They are not really in the wild, they live in a park in the middle of the city. I think the birds like to be taken care of, and I like taking care of them."

"Oh, well, that's nice of you." Creepy ass old birdman.

I was about to put my headphones back in, till he said, "We all need to be taken care of sometimes, you know? Some more than others, don't you think?"

He was a talker; I didn't like talkers. They never spoke to themselves, but to everyone around them that didn't' want to talk to them. "I guess."

"We are all a bit like fragile butterflies, no?" He was staring at me, and I wasn't sure what to really say to him. Something about him was off. "We all have to be gentle to them. They need it." Something in the way that he had said it, the words had reeled me in, and for some reason, I let it. "Here," he said, handing me the brown bag. "Try feeding them." I stared at him for a second and then looking to the overflowing bag. Letting my fingers drown into the seeds, I grabbed a handful and threw a little too much on the ground.

The birds chirped at me angrily, yelling at me that I wasn't doing it right. I know if birds could speak English, they would be calling me names. They flew away, one getting too close to me, causing me to scream out of panic. The man laughed, the one that started from the bottom of your belly, rising to your chest and exploding. "I'm sorry," he said. I gave the bag back to him. The way he laughed at me pissed me off. He's laughing, and smile had disappeared.

"I'm sure that's not true. Nature is a wonderful thing. I'm sure if you got into nature more, you would love it-"

"I hate nature," I glared at him. "And nature hates me!" His face went blank, careful not to say the wrong thing. He gulped and tried to smile at me, hoping I would loosen up. Instead, I just shook my head. I crossed my arms and put the headphones back in my ears. I pulled my hoodie over my head and put my head between my knees, and stayed. I let the music blaring into my ears.